In attempting to assess the risk of war or something near it
on the Korean peninsula, one might be tempted to consult the history of
skirmishes between the North and South since a truce ended all-out combat in
1953. The result would be an interesting list of flare-ups and atrocities
almost exclusively instigated by the North: hundreds of commando [...]
For the past two months there have
been very strong rumors in the markets that next year’s new lending
quota was going to be set somewhere between RMB 6.5 trillion and RMB 7.0
trillion. For comparison’s sake, total new lending last year amounted
to RMB 9.6 trillion, and this year the quota was RMB 7.5 trillion.
[...]
In the past couple of years, Hong Kong has witnessed a sharp increase
in property prices. This has led some to claim that the time has come
to change Hong Kong’s “Linked Exchange Rate System”.
This represents a misdiagnosis of the current situation and the wrong prescription for Hong Kong.
[...]
As of late, I have been intrigued by Japan. It is a part of the world that investors seem to detest ignore, despite signs of technical improvement.
I’ve talked about this in the office, and with some of our clients
who either own specific Japanese names — or live there. The thought
process is Japan is a potential [...]
Our weekly news review (from the pick of our ChinaBlogTweets Twitter feed) follows, and includes an inflationary update (a sensitive topic, and one to watch), another Five-Year Plan announcement (for the environmental protection sector), and the added (likely) bonus of carbon taxes! We also note some of China’s fastest growing provinces (Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Hunan, [...]
Coal may be cheap, but the associated costs in terms of the environment, and to human life, are high (we recently did some research into mine safety, and it was a sobering, depressing piece of work). We are therefore keen to recommend this PRI series, “China’s coal habit”, to you, as a reminder of what [...]
The EIU has recently released (and has kindly shared with us) some research that caught our attention: “CHAMPS China’s fastest-growing cities”.
A new acronym, yes (Chongqing, Hefei, Anshan, Maanshan, Pingdingshan and Shenyang), but well worth a read – and note that the report goes beyond those six cities, and looks at the top 20 [...]
A (very) quick review of last week’s news (it has been a busy week!):
Inflation RT @BullishChina: Wal-Mart Among Companies Facing China Price Controls – Bloomberg http://sns.ly/1RQ62
5YP, 7 industries RT @BullishChina: China Has $1.5 Trillion Spending Plan, Reuters Says – BusinessWeek http://sns.ly/2RQ69
WTO RT @shaunrein: WTO Blocks EU Tariffs on Chinese Screws http://on.wsj.com/i5pWwp
China’s Rise: RT @douglaszjiang: Global [...]
This is for festive starters, and we expect more material for another list before the year is out…
Quotes: Among others… RT @ChinaDailyUSA: We summarized the top 10 notable quotes in China in 2010 for you: http://bit.ly/gtO7bI – From China Daily, including the infamous and outrageous: “Sue me if you dare. My father is Li Gang!”. [...]
Yes, it is that time of year again…and thankfully TravelChinaGuide posted a list of the 2011 China holidays here (edited below).
2011 Major Public Holiday Calendar
New Year Jan. 1- 3
Spring Festival Feb. 2 – 8
Qingming Festival [...]